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Connected Learning: Staff development sessions for teaching online

By Jasmin E Mullings, on 10 January 2022

In 2022, efforts to support the teaching and assessment of our students include extensive guidance material and information. In addition, the Digital Education team will offer a series of staff development sessions focusing on designing and teaching online courses. These sessions will be delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams and are available to all UCL staff. The team will also offer 15 minute one-to-one sessions to provide Moodle support.

To view the full range of training offered by Digital Education, please visit the Digital Education training for staff webpage.

**We will update this post with sessions as they are scheduled, so please check back regularly if you are interested in attending.**

Designing live online classes

Facilitating interaction in an online classroom must be planned more intentionally than in an on campus context.

This 90 minute session provides practical guidance on how to design live online classes, including creating learning activities to engage students throughout the session (from icebreakers to exit tickets), deciding which interaction channels to use, and effective mechanisms for moderation and time management.

To enrol via MyLearning, please visit the Designing live online classes booking page and select one of the following dates:

  • 20th January 2022 – 2pm-3.30pm
  • 25th January 2022 – 10am-11:30am
  • 2nd February 2022 – 2pm-3.30pm

Teaching and engaging students in live online classes

Live online classes can lack some of the immediacy and energy of on campus learning. Nevertheless, a well-managed online class can create plenty of opportunities for equitable engagement and conversation.

This session explores how teachers can look to build community, set expectations for engagement, and manage groups in an online classroom.

To enrol via MyLearning, please visit the Teaching and engaging students in live online classes booking page and select one of the following dates:

  • 27th January 2022 – 2pm-3.30pm
  • 3rd February 2022 – 10am-11.30am

Designing asynchronous learning activities

Learning online and at your own pace can provide flexibility in terms of both time and space. However, asynchronous learning activities must be carefully designed in order to ensure students stay motivated and engaged.

This 90-minute session provides practical guidance on designing and sequencing asynchronous learning activities. We will first look into how to structure an online course and how to plan and sequence a variety of activity types before looking at different kinds of individual and group learning activities, how to communicate them clearly to students, and structure them as part of the course.

To enrol via MyLearning, please visit the Designing asynchronous learning activities booking page and select one of the following dates:

  • 18th January 2022 – 10am-11:30am
  • 26th January 2022 – 10am-11:30am
  • 4th February 2022 – 10am-11:30am

Designing video lectures

Video is a frequent medium for content in online courses. It can be used complement and occasionally replace teaching methods that might take place in an on campus context, but while video can offer a range of benefits it’s important to use it appropriately.

This 60 minute session looks at how we can use the basic principles of learning design to align content and activities to learning outcomes. We will consider the strengths of video, how to ‘chunk’ content clearly, the kinds of generative and active learning tasks you might intersperse between such chunks, and some basic principles of accessibility and usability. Session participants will be given a chunking template to work with and discuss potential activities with their peers.

To enrol via MyLearning, please visit the Designing video lectures booking page and select one of the following dates:

  • 28th January 2022 – 11am-12pm
  • 1st February 2022 – 11am-12pm

Please navigate here for advice on How to enrol on a course or register interest in a course in MyLearning.

Important: to enrol on a course or view your enrolments you will need to be using Desktop@UCL or a VPN as you need to be on the UCL network to use the system.

If you encounter any problems when attempting to enrol please contact isd-digiskills@ucl.ac.uk

One-to-one Moodle support sessions: book a 15 minute one-to-one session with a member of the Digital Education Team.

These online sessions can be tailored to your needs and cover all aspects of Moodle.

Whether you want to add a wiki or extra topics to your Moodle page, or check the logs of your Moodle course, change the layout or set up a quiz, or if need help with your Turnitin links, these Moodle 121 sessions can help.

To book a support session, please visit the Getting Started With Moodle Online course to see the available dates and book your slot. Spaces are limited, so book early to avoid missing out.

Please note that the support sessions assume a basic working knowledge of the system, therefore, please complete the Getting Started With Moodle Online course beforehand.

If you are unable to attend your session or need help booking, please email the Digital Education team at digi-ed@ucl.ac.uk.

Other training resources

Communicating in Moodle to Support Learners – Moodle course

Practical Online Teaching Tips – Recordings of previous sessions on UCL Media Central

Further support

If you have any issues in relation to accessibility, please contact us on: digi-ed@ucl.ac.uk.

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